Great day for victorious Victor as he picks up the silverware

Most golfers don’t win a trophy for years but a senior swinger at the Leighton Buzzard club has landed two on the same day.

That’s been the latest experience for retired IT programme manager Victor Albertella who scooped the Leighton Buzzard seniors Barney Hallam Christmas Cup and the Tom Davis Over 75s trophy in one round of golf.

Victor, a member of the Plantation Road club for 12 years, won the Christmas Cup, beating Mike Banham on countback after both finished with 41 points.

And he added the Tom Davis trophy to his collection having qualified by reaching the age of 75, beating Keith Camp and Mike Turnock on countback after all finished with 18points in the nine-hole event.

A 21-handicap golfer, Victor has previously won the Tucker Cup and McKinnon trophy at Leighton, but has yet to win his first piece of silverware at the Buckingham club, where he has been a member for over 20 years.

Ex-Leighton club President Stuart Oliver finished runner-up in the Bedfordshire Captain’s Christmas meeting at The Bedford, losing out to Peter Hulance of Beds & County on countback after both finished with 38 points. Leighton’s Derek Lindley finished with 36pts; Brian Carter had 35 pts and was followed into the club house by David Hawkins, Trevor Stimpson and Syd Pniewski who all finished in the top half of the 33-strong field.

Former Leighton-based professional golfer Steve Vinnicombe has been installed as the new manager of the Beds & County club while Michael Grace, who worked in Leighton’s pro-shop when Ian Poulter was honing his now-famous golfing skills, has been appointed assistant to the general manager at John O’Gaunt.